


One Perfect Gift Card

by thundercaya



Series: The Gift That Keeps On Giving [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Family History, Gift Exchange, M/M, Workplace Warzone compliant, past Thomas/Martha, some nsfw discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 02:10:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13448313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercaya/pseuds/thundercaya
Summary: It's Jefferson's first Christmas back in the states and he can't even spend it with Madison.





	One Perfect Gift Card

Christmas didn’t hold any special significance for Jefferson. The religious aspect meant nothing to him, and with both of his parents already gone, the family aspect wasn’t so important either. Still he tended to use the time off to get together with whichever of his siblings weren’t off on some extravagant vacation--when he himself wasn’t on off on some extravagant vacation, anyway.

Martha had been a fan of such vacations, enjoying spending a couple of weeks in some tropical locale while her family back home complained of the cold. Jefferson personally preferred to vacation in Europe, but that could wait until there was no snow, and he was always happy to acquiesce to his wife’s wishes. After her death, he hadn’t gone back to any of their winter vacation spots, and after taking the office of Ambassador, he hadn’t spent a holiday outside of France. 

Now his first Christmas back in the US was approaching and he actually had someone he’d like to catch under the mistletoe. Unfortunately, since he hadn’t had a Christmas with his family in five years, Jefferson could not justify spending it with Madison, especially since he wasn’t sure if he could tell his siblings about Madison in the first place.

The man in question was currently at Jefferson’s DC home, eating a Panda Bowl on the couch, still wearing his clothes from work even though Jefferson had offered him something more comfortable to change into. His hope was that Madison would leave some of his clothes here soon, but despite how quickly they’d shared bed space, it seemed they hadn’t reached the point where they could share closet space.

Jefferson’s own food was finished and he watched Madison struggle to scrape up the last of his rice before asking; “Did you want to exchange Christmas gifts before or after my trip?”

Madison pulled a face, giving up on the final grains and setting his bowl down on the coffee table. “Do we have to exchange gifts?”

“Don’t you want to? I thought you celebrated Christmas.”

“I do celebrate. I’m just not sure it’s a good idea right now.”

“Are… you having money trouble?” Jefferson asked, unable to think of any other reason why it might be an issue.

“No, nothing like that,” Madison assured. “It’s just, we’re still getting a feel for each other. If one of us chooses a better gift than the other, there’ll be bad feelings.”

“We’ve been talking for two years,” Jefferson argued. “I think we know each other well enough to do just fine.”

“We’re not ready,” Madison insisted.

“But--”

“ _I’m_ not ready,” Madison said finally. “I wouldn’t know what to get you, and you’d end up disappointed. It would be a bad start to our relationship if I ruined our first Christmas.”

Jefferson was finding more and more that the self-deprecation Madison used during their chats was less of a put-on for the sake of humor and more of a core personality trait.

“You’re not gonna ruin Christmas,” Jefferson assured, grabbing Madison’s shoulder and gently shaking him. “But if you’re that worried about it, fine. No gifts. But could we maybe do gift cards?”

Madison inhaled deeply through his nose. “I... guess that’s a fair compromise. But we need to settle on an amount.”

“A hundred dollars,” Jefferson said, shooting high.

“Fifty,” Madison countered quickly.

“Seventy-five.”

“Fine,” Madison agreed. “And thank you. For acquiescing.”

“You’re welcome.” Jefferson kissed Madison’s temple. “And you know what would make a great gift right now?”

“Look even if I were ready to try that, I literally just ate, so I don’t think I could-”

“I was gonna say a foot massage.” Not that Jefferson would have said no to what Madison thought he was suggesting, but he wasn’t about to ask just yet.

Madison ducked his head. “Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Well, as long as your feet don’t smell like what I just ate that should be fine.”

“Good recovery,” Jefferson teased, repositioning himself on the couch so he could set his stocking feet on Madison’s lap.

  


As Jefferson shopped for the other important people in his life, he was constantly forced to talk himself out of buying any nice thing he saw for Madison. A new briefcase for work. A warm, winter coat. A new iPhone because Madison had cracked his screen and hadn’t replaced the phone himself because he claimed he didn’t deserve a new one yet. Some fleece-lined slippers. It was probably good that Madison had set limits, because left to his own devices Jefferson would probably have gotten him not one but all of these things. He tended to over do gifts back when he was with Martha.

Martha had gotten him a tie every year. It was a joke because a tie was supposed to be what you gave a man when you didn’t know what to give him, but the ties Martha bought were always high quality, with interesting designs in beautiful colors. Frankly they were perfect, and Jefferson never felt like his gifts could measure up. And since he could never find that one perfect gift, he just gave her as many things as he could.

Now of course, he had to find one perfect gift card to give Madison.

A restaurant? Madison did seem to turn to familiar foods when he needed a boost in mood, so he’d probably receive a restaurant gift card quite happily. However, he would probably use it to take Jefferson on a date and then it would be like he’d gotten a gift for himself. A clothing store? He thought he could peg Madison’s style--both professional and casual--pretty well, but Madison didn’t _like_ shopping for clothes. Providing the money for such a purchase wouldn’t in any way make the task easier or more enjoyable, and Madison might feel obligated to settle for something that didn’t fit right just to use up the card.

Jefferson was running out of time. He had to get Madison something before they both left town. Still, he tried not to let himself worry too much. If he were struck by genius at the last minute it wouldn’t be the first time.

  


So far Jefferson tended to wake up before Madison and that was true on they day Jefferson was set to leave for Virginia. It was a pleasant feeling, to slowly come into the awareness that Madison was half on top of him, an arm slung across his chest and a spot of wetness on his shoulder near where Madison’s mouth was. Madison also had morning wood, and Jefferson took that moment to enjoy the stiffness pressed into his hip, Madison’s leg wrapped around his own. He couldn’t blame Madison for clinging--he was pretty hot. In the literal sense; Jefferson seemed to radiate much more body heat, and the silk pajamas Madison insisted on wearing didn’t do much to stave off the cold.

Eventually Jefferson had to pee and so he worked his way out of the other man’s hold. When he came back to Madison’s room, the man was beginning to stir.  

“Morning, hon,” Jefferson greeted, kissing his forehead.

Madison groaned his own greeting, pulling a pillow over his head.

Jefferson sat on the bed and patted Madison’s thigh through the blanket. “Aw hon, you have to wake up all the way if you’re gonna give me a proper goodbye.”

“And your gift card,” Madison muttered.

“That too. Wouldn’t want to leave without that.” Jefferson pulled the pillow off of Madison’s face. “Though I still wish we could have Christmas together.”

Madison squinted up at him, then his face relaxed into a smile. “Me too. I’m sure it would be very nice. But I have to be with my family.”

“Yeah, same.” Jefferson chuckled. “You know, it’s really rare to meet people who have around as many siblings as I do.”

“Well, you know how it is,” Madison said, extending his arms out to stretch. Once he’d gotten a good pull, he relaxed and continued. “That’s what happens when you try for a girl and when you finally get one she dies, and then you spend a few years just trying to fill the hole and by the time you realize some holes can’t be filled, two more of your kids die, so then you want just one more because you can’t just let things end that way, and when she comes everyone adores her and dotes on her so much she gets spoiled and doesn’t know the meaning of things like ‘I can’t make it to your dance recital’ and ‘don’t touch your brother’s Hershey-ets.’”

Jefferson had no immediate response to that. He knew about Madison’s deceased siblings, but the man certainly hadn’t originally shared that information as a quick rundown complete with emotional analysis that he sounded completely detached from. And Madison’s brain hadn’t warmed up nearly enough for this to be anything other than exactly how he saw things. Maybe Madison was right—they didn’t know each other that well yet.

Jefferson cleared his throat. Not ready to touch the main subject, he instead said; “what… are Hershey-ets?”

“They’re like M&M’s, but the facility is peanut-safe. Hershey only puts them out around Christmas so my mother would always stock up for me. By the time Fanny Rose was born I was more than capable of buying my own chocolate, but my mother still liked doing it.”

Jefferson smiled. “See, that would have been a good gift for you.”

Madison scoffed. “You would have gotten me a pack of Hershey-ets?”

“I would have gotten you seventy-five dollars worth of Hershey-ets.”

Madison appeared contemplative. “Is it too late to change my mind?”

“I’m leaving in an hour so yes. It’s much too late.”

Madison finally sat up. “Maybe next year, then.” He slid his feet into a pair of slippers next to the bed. “Well, come on. I’ll make you some toast before you go.”

  


After a long night of everyone asking when he was going to get married again, Jefferson collapsed onto his bed. He understandably preferred his home in Virginia—built exactly to his liking—to the one in DC, but Madison hadn’t been here yet so it was sorely lacking in memories of the man. After a deep, cleansing sigh he reached for his phone.

“Hello, Thomas,” Madison greeted, answering on the first ring. “Good to hear from you.”

Jefferson smiled. “Your voice is doing wonders for my ears, too. Sounds quiet over there. Are the festivities over for the night?”

Madison sighed. “Very much so. Frank’s wife already yelled at him for drinking too much and left without him so he’s asleep on the couch, which means everyone else has either gone home or moved to their rooms.”

“Are you staying the night?”

“Yeah. Fanny Rose insisted. She wants to try to make Hershey-et pancakes in the morning.”

“That’ll be a nice thing to wake up to. So, how about something nice before you go to bed? Want to open the cards?”

“Yes,” Madison said. “Should we FaceTime?”

“Yeah. Give me a minute to fish your card out of my luggage and I’ll call you right back.”

Not much later Jefferson had the card in one hand and watched Madison’s face blossom onto the phone he held in the other.

“You lool nice,” Madison said.

Jefferson grinned. “Thanks, hon. So do you. So, do you want to go first?”

“Yeah. Hold on.” The screen became off white as Madison set the phone down.

“Nice ceiling,” Jefferson teased.

“Shut up.” Madison picked the phone back up, the freed card in his other hand. “You shouldn’t have sealed the envelope.”

“I had to make sure you wouldn’t peek.”

Madison rolled his eyes then unfolded the card with one hand. Jefferson had chosen one that would cradle the gift card. Madison’s eyes widened, then remained so even as his eyebrows pulled tight, giving him an intense look.

“Yeeees,” he said, drawing out the word.

Jefferson laughed. “So was it a good choice?”

Madison set down the card and turned his gaze back to the phone, his expression softening into a smile. “Coffee is always a good choice. Thank you, Thomas.”

“You’re welcome, hon. Now it’s my turn.”

Jefferson didn’t have to set his phone down since Madison hadn’t properly sealed his envelope. Instead it was held shut with a Christmas tree sticker that Jefferson easily ripped with his thumb. He grabbed the card with his thumb and forefinger and shook it out of the envelope. On the front of the card was a picture of Rudolph and the inside said “hope your Christmas goes down in history.” The gift card was cradled inside and Jefferson squinted at it.

“The Capitol Restaurant? They have gift cards?”

Madison cleared his throat. “Apparently. I asked the cashier, just to make it an option, and she said she wasn’t sure. I said it was fine, but she said she would go ask her manager. I told her not to bother, but she went anyway. Then the manager said she thought they had some at one point, but wasn’t sure if there were any around. Again, I told them not to bother, but she went looking for them anyway. She came back with a box she’d dug out, and at that point they’d gone to so much trouble I couldn’t _not_ buy it, so… I hope you like it.”

Jefferson’s smile grew warmer as the story progressed until he was sure that he was glowing. “I do like it. I love it, actually. Now you can take me to lunch even when you’re busy.”

“That’s one way to look at it. Well, Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, too, hon. So do you think you’ll be going to bed soon?”

“Not for a while yet, probably. Why?”

“You know what else would be a good gift?” Jefferson waggled his eyebrows. 

Madison rolled his eyes, but he was smiling with amusement. “What?”

“Long-distance hand-job?”

Madison sighed. “Well, seeing as I’m in my childhood bedroom at my parents’ house--”

“Aw, hon, of course you don’t have to if you’re not comfortable.”

“No, it’s fine,” Madison insisted. “Just, can we text instead of talking?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Jefferson said, already going for his belt with his free hand.

“Easy there,” Madison said. “I also want to make it clear that this is entirely for your benefit and I won’t be physically participating.”

“Don’t kill the illusion, babe,” Jefferson said, winking. “So I guess we hang up now?”

“Yes,” Madison said. “I’ll get started.”

“I love you,” Jefferson said quickly.

Madison smiled. “I love you, too.”


End file.
